Portable power stations: every current unit, by size

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Capacity: watt-hours are how long it runs

The battery's capacity in watt-hours (Wh) is the headline figure and the one the sizing calculator solves for. A watt-hour is one watt for one hour, so a 1,000 Wh unit holds enough for a 100 W load for ten hours before losses. The losses are the inverter's: turning battery DC into 120 V AC wastes heat, and manufacturers' manuals put the conversion at roughly 85% to 90%. Divide by 0.85 to get usable AC watt-hours. BLUETTI Elite 100 mini, a typical mid-size unit at 1,005 Wh, gives about 14.2 hours to a 60 W laptop charger by that arithmetic.

Capacity across the current units runs from 286 Wh to6,438 Wh. Brands round freely in their names: a "1000" may be 1,024 Wh (a binary kilowatt-hour from 32 cells) or 1,070 Wh; the tables always show the rated figure, never the name.

Output and surge: watts are how much at once

The inverter's continuous rating in watts (W) is the most it can deliver steadily through the AC outlets, and every device running at the same time adds up against it. A 1,800 W inverter runs a 1,500 W kettle; a 600 W inverter does not, however large the battery behind it. The surge (or peak) rating is the short burst the inverter survives when a compressor or motor starts: a refrigerator listed at 100 W running can draw 800 to 1,200 W for a fraction of a second, and an inverter that cannot cover that shuts down. Surge ratings are typically two to three times continuous.

Two things to read carefully. First, a boost mode (EcoFlow X-Boost, Bluetti Power Lifting and similar) runs a resistive load above the continuous rating by lowering voltage; it is not a continuous rating and the tables never record it as one. Second, a unit whose surge is not stated is checked against its continuous rating instead, which is stricter, so it may show as "surge too low" in the calculator where a better-documented rival passes.

Chemistry and cycles: how many years it lasts

52 of the 56 current units use LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate, LFP) cells, 1 use NMC, and the rest do not name their chemistry. The difference is life against weight. Manufacturers rate their LiFePO4 units between 2,000 and 6,000 cycles, their NMC units at figures they do not state. In return NMC stores more per pound: 45.1 Wh per lb at the median, against 37.1 Wh per lb for LiFePO4.

A cycle claim is only comparable with the capacity it is rated to. "4,000 cycles to 80%" means the maker expects the unit to hold at least 80% of its rated Wh after 4,000 full charge and discharge cycles; a claim rated to 70% is a weaker promise with a bigger number. The tables show both parts. The LiFePO4 vs NMC guide works through what the choice costs and buys for a daily user and for an outage kit.

Charging: the input caps the speed, not the panel

Every unit charges from a wall outlet at up to its maximum AC input (small units a few hundred watts, large ones 1,500 W and more), from a car's 12 V socket slowly, and from solar through an MPPT charge controller at up to its maximum solar input. That last figure is the one buyers miss: a 400 W panel on a unit whose solar input is 200 W charges at 200 W at best, and a 1,000 Wh unit at 200 W needs at least five hours of full sun by arithmetic. The solar generators page has the arithmetic and the input limits side by side.

Two more figures live on the charging side. UPS (or EPS) switchover time is how fast the unit switches to battery when the wall fails while it sits between the outlet and a device; under about 20 ms most computers and CPAP machines carry on, and the units that state a figure give 10, 20 or 30 ms. Expandability is whether extra batteries attach: a unit that expands can be bought at the size you need now and grown later.

"Solar generator" is the same box with a panel

Nothing in a solar generator generates. It is a portable power station sold in a bundle with one or more folding solar panels, and the station's capacity, output and surge are the whole spec. What the panel adds is a way to refill it away from a wall, at a rate capped by the station's solar input. The solar generators page explains the panel side; the Jackery page shows what a "Solar Generator" bundle actually contains, since Jackery uses the name for most of its range.